Been doing a little cleanup around my garage, and part of this included a reconciliation of 12g ammo holdings. I got a surprise, pleasant hopefully, to find that I have about 2000 Clay target rounds on hand, and maybe 500 hunting 12g ready to go. Methinks I’d best get my wee pink bum into gear and smoke some clays at the Clay target club. I’m pretty keen to shoot some 5 Stand Sporting and also some Sporting Clays competition.

The things that are holding me back right now is finances…it’s not cheap anymore to shoot clays. The price of Clay targets varies from 48c - 50c per target depending on brand and supplier, then the club adds their cut. So, if your Club shoots White Flyers, appears to be the preferred target, (AUD$65 for a box of 135) the minimum you would expect to pay for a round of 25 targets is AUD$12, and that’s assuming their is no Club profit or subsidy. Shoot 4 visits to the traps and you are looking at more than AUD$50. a lot of money when you are on a tight budget.

Best I stop whinging and look at ways I can save some “Oscar Scholars” (dollars).

"wee pink bum" ??? Deb got a chuckle out of that.

Bushmaster wrote:

"wee pink bum" ??? Deb got a chuckle out of that.

Not “wee” anymore mate…I’m sitting on around 250 - 270lb at the moment.

Well mate...you can spend the $ on clays...or on beer and food you don't need... So going n shooting clays sort of puts you on a diet lol.

I need to get out and shoot some as well. I have a case and a half of clays and a few hundred "cheap" bulk pack shotties I can burn without missing them.

I have a couple cases of unopened dove loads I got ages ago that now seem absurdly cheap. 1 case of AA's and another Winchester Fast Dove. I got them cheap and hesitate to use them on clays, they are both such good dove loads and so over priced today. I paid I think $80 for the AA's...!

I need to get out of the hoarder mentality and start using up this stuff LOL.

Buuuuttt........... its 20F outside. Too cold for clays.


-DallanC

Excuses, excuses,,, I put 50 rounds of .40s on my range and it was 25*F.

Now I get to reload them for next time. One must practice no matter what the weather. Besides, Dallan, you should be used to the weather over there.

Sounds like pullover weather.

With the crazy warm start to winter, we've finally achieved Ice up. Going to be spending free time doing this.

Honestly though, I could actually pack in a skeet thrower. That would be interesting to shoot clay's between reeling in fish, ROFL!

This was from the past Saturday. Fishing was a tad slow but the size of the trout more than made up for it, largest was just shy of 19". Pretty impressive from a small remote lake.

Very Tasty!


-DallanC

My pistol club just recently cancelled the clay shoot after 2 years of matches.
It used to cost $60 for a box of 25 ammo and the clay targets for the match
Being cheap, I usually never take the second shot if I miss the first time.
Now if I want to shoot clay I have to drive over 1 hour to another club and pay their $$$ price.

Trout!! Damn Dallan! You're making me hungry! I haven't been fishing for 18 years as there are no trout (native) streams around here. I left the best trout and steelhead stream east of Seattle 18 years ago. I DO miss my mountains.

My those look good.

DallanC wrote:

With the crazy warm start to winter, we've finally achieved Ice up. Going to be spending free time doing this. Honestly though, I could actually pack in a skeet thrower. That would be interesting to shoot clay's between reeling in fish, ROFL! This was from the past Saturday. Fishing was a tad slow but the size of the trout more than made up for it, largest was just shy of 19". Pretty impressive from a small remote lake. Very Tasty! -DallanC

WOW…those tout look outstanding to me (I never seem to be able to catch fish). Do they freeze up like tha when pulled out of the water, or does it retake time laying them on the snow and ice? I’ve never tried trout, although those I know who have rave about them. One day…

Love the side by side ATV mate, especially the tracks. That would be awesome on the snow. I assume that is your young fella holding the two trout? He’s a big boy.

Shooting clays whilst waiting for the fish to bite would be fun…except for the mess of broken clays to clean up later, although they would sink when the lake thaws, and they are biodegradable.

Yea they ice up quick once you get them onto the ice. Ice cold trout are fantastic. There are two species here: Rainbows and Cutthroats.

Rainbows always put up a fun fight. Their meat is best from cold winter water. They can get mushy in hot summer waters. The other here are "Cutthroat" trout. Those are native species and are good year around, but again better out of ice cold water.

As for the machine, that has been a really long term goal for me for well over 10 years. I got a deal I couldn't turn down this past July. I wanted to simplify things, we'd usually trailer our 3 snowmobiles + a gear sled. The main issue there was the road conditions were unknown until we made the +2 hour drive. Sometimes it was deep snow needing snowmobiles, sometimes parts were melted off needing ATVs, then at times it was a mix of both. These tracks work on either so I was able to sell off all my snowmobiles this past November and take advantage of a sale on tracks.

Now we fit 3 people into 1 rig with all our gear... it has a heater and the cab kit. So my "old guy" solution / goal is achieved and it really is nice. Just turn a key get in and drive to the spot. No more manhandling snowmobiles, gear sled yada yada yada.



-DallanC

gelandangan wrote:

My pistol club just recently cancelled the clay shoot after 2 years of matches. It used to cost $60 for a box of 25 ammo and the clay targets for the match Being cheap, I usually never take the second shot if I miss the first time. Now if I want to shoot clay I have to drive over 1 hour to another club and pay their $$$ price.

That is shockingly outrageous.

An entire case of skeet here is $10. A box of Topgun sheet shells is $12.

-DallanC

DallanC wrote:

gelandangan wrote: My pistol club just recently cancelled the clay shoot after 2 years of matches. It used to cost $60 for a box of 25 ammo and the clay targets for the match Being cheap, I usually never take the second shot if I miss the first time. Now if I want to shoot clay I have to drive over 1 hour to another club and pay their $$$ price. That is shockingly outrageous. An entire case of skeet here is $10. A box of Topgun sheet shells is $12. -DallanC

It works out expensive to shoot Clays out here which is why I cast my own shot and reload. I load 12g, 20g and .410 for shooting clays and hunting. It’s not a lot cheaper, but a dollar saved is an extra dollar in my pocket.

These prices are from one of our cheaper gun shops. It’s actually my “go to” shop. He searches the world for hard to get items and actually imports a lot of his own stuff. His son travels to the US every now and again, trolling components dealers and keeping an eye out for other bargains. I believe that they buy up a heap of stuff, wait until they can fill a container, pack it in and ship it over here.

MIRAGE
T2 COMPETITION
12 GAUGE, 28 GRAM
1250 FPS
AMMUNITION
Well known in Trap ranges worldwide, it is produced in 24 and 28 gr. (7/8 oz. and 1 oz.) for Trap, Skeet, American Trap, Double Trap and Sporting.
SPECIAL
$16.90 /PER 25
$147.90 /PER 250

ELEY
AMBER PINK
12 GAUGE, 7.5, 24GR,
1200 FPS
Specifically designed for Women
Hard Hitting
Reduced Recoil
Distinctive Look
SPECIAL
$19.90 /PER 25
$159 /PER 250

ELEY
OLYMPIC BLUES
12 GAUGE, 7.5, 28 GRAM
1250 FPS
AMMUNITION
SPECIAL
$18.90 /PER 25
$155 /PER 250

FEDERAL
12G 28GR 7.5
TOPGUN 1180FPS
$22.90 /PER 25
$179 /PER 250

FEDERAL
TOPGUN EXTRA LITE
12G, 24GR, 8
1200FPS
AMMUNITION
SPECIAL
$15.90 /PER 25
$139 /PER 250

Same prices once you do the AUD to USD conversion.

Never could get into shotguns and skeet myself. Even ended up giving my O/U shotgun to a buddy who's shooting skeet regularly now.